How can I increase my Iman?
In order to achieve a strong belief, what should I do?
It is essential and fard (obligatory) for every Muslim to increase his iman. Iman has levels and it is not enough just to say “I believe” to achieve the high level of iman. What has concerned the companies (sahaba) of the Blessed Prophet (pbuh) and the scholars is the difficulty to keep iman fresh till the end of life.
According to the scholars, there are two types of faith.
One type is imitative (Taqlidi) while the other is verified (tahqiqi).
Imitative faith (iman-i taqlidi) is the faith which a person has just through the people around him without any proofs.
Since a person having imitative belief doesn’t have any investigation and Islamic studies to acquire certain knowledge about faith he just believes in the way that he observes in the people around him. This kind of belief is weak and shakeable in the face of doubts and misgivings of disbelief, because it doesn’t stand on any proofs and knowledge.
However, tahqiqi iman which is the “certain, verified faith” means believing in Allah (swt) as strong as seeing Him. This kind of belief is obtained as a result of acquiring certain knowledge of all the questions related to belief through close investigation and Islamic studies. Since “verified belief” has the answers of all questions of doubt and disbelief, it is too strong, firm and unshakable.
Ulama (scholars) are in consensus that even though it is valid to have an imitative faith, it is fard for very Muslim to raise their faith to the ‘certain, verified belief’ from imitative level. (Aliyy-ul Qari, Commentary of Fiqh-i Akbar)
How to Increase Iman
In order to achieve tahqiqi iman we should;
1. Realize and comprehend how much we need tahqiqi iman for the pleasure of both this world and the hereafter.
2. Ponder on death to realize that the only assurance to pass away with iman is having a “tahqiqi iman” in this world. Because scholars state that devil may give doubts to the mind of the person who is about to die. However, if he has “tahqiqi iman”, it is not possible for devil to harm and remove his iman. Because, tahqiqi iman does not exist just in the mind of a believer, on the contrary it expands, surrounds the heart, the soul and nearly all the senses and feelings that nothing can damage it.
3. Implement what iman requires, in other words perform the obligatory actions and abstain the major sins.
4. Recite the holy book Quran and try to comprehend its divine message; because Quran is full of proves and lessons that strengthen iman. All iman facts, the purpose of the creation, why Allah (swt) charged the prophets, what the duties of the angels are, what the truth of the hereafter is and so on are explained in a persuasive manner in the Quran.
5. Read and benefit the Quranic commentaries to comprehend the Quranic verses regarding belief.
6. Reflect upon the creatures, in other words the unique works of art of Allah (swt) surrounding us in order to ponder on the iman lessons that we get through the holy Quran and the interpretations.
We should reflect upon the attributes and the names of Allah (swt) that are manifested on the creatures and make a habit of reflecting. (tafakkur)
7. In order to achieve all these aforementioned aims, we need to be sincere, because sincerity is the most generous means that will carry you toward your goal.